The flat-rate tax on recorded income (ryczałt od przychodów ewidencjonowanych) is one of the simplest ways to settle taxes for a Polish sole proprietorship (JDG) — tax is charged on revenue, with no deduction for business costs. In 2026 the revenue limit that qualifies a business for this tax form changes, and starting in January a new obligation also kicks in: the revenue register must be kept exclusively in electronic form. Here's exactly what's changing and what to keep in mind.
Who can use the lump-sum tax and what the 2026 limit is
The flat-rate tax on recorded income is available to individuals running a sole proprietorship, partners in civil-law and registered partnerships of individuals, and inherited businesses (przedsiębiorstwo w spadku), provided their revenue in the previous tax year did not exceed the equivalent of 2,000,000 euros. The limit is converted into złoty using the average euro exchange rate published by the National Bank of Poland (NBP) on the first business day of October of the preceding year. The rate on 1 October 2025 was 4.2586 PLN, which means the revenue limit qualifying for the lump-sum tax in 2026 is 8,517,200 PLN.
A separate, lower limit applies to quarterly settlement of the lump-sum tax. It's available to taxpayers whose revenue in the previous year did not exceed 200,000 euros (851,720 PLN in 2026), as well as to those just starting a business taxed under the lump-sum system. The choice of quarterly settlement is only reported in the annual PIT-28 tax return for the year in which it was used.
Lump-sum tax rates — from 2% to 17%
The rate depends on the type of activity and ranges from 2% to 17%. The highest rate, 17%, applies to personally performed liberal professions. The 15% rate covers, among others, wholesale trade intermediary services and advertising services; 14% applies to healthcare services and architectural and engineering services; and 12% applies to certain software-related services. Most service activities fall under the 8.5% rate, though for private rental income and certain accommodation services, the surplus above 100,000 PLN is taxed at 12.5%. Catering activity (except sales of higher-proof alcohol) and trading activity are taxed at 3%, while revenue from manufacturing, construction works, or freight transport is taxed at 5.5%. The lowest rate, 2%, applies to sales of non-industrially processed plant and animal products from one's own farming or breeding.
If a single business earns revenue taxed at several different rates, it's necessary to keep records that clearly assign each amount to the correct rate. When this can't be established, the tax office will apply the 8.5% rate — unless a higher rate applies to that activity, in which case the higher rate is used. Failing to keep records at all, or keeping them in a way that makes them unusable as evidence, carries a penalty: five times the rate due, but no more than 75% of revenue.
How and when to pay the lump-sum tax
The lump-sum tax is self-calculated and paid without a request from the tax office. Under monthly settlement, the payment deadline is the 20th day of the month following the month for which the tax is due, and for December, 20 January of the following year. Under quarterly settlement, payment is due by the 20th day of the month after the quarter ends, while tax for the last quarter of the year is paid by the deadline for filing the annual return. Payments are made to the individual tax micro-account.
The annual return is filed on form PIT-28 (or PIT-28S for an inherited business) between 15 February and 30 April of the year following the tax year.
What can be deducted from revenue
The lump-sum tax doesn't allow business costs to be deducted from the tax base, but the list of allowable deductions from revenue is far from short. It includes, among others: 50% of health insurance contributions (składka zdrowotna) paid during the year, social security contributions (unless deducted elsewhere), payments into an individual retirement security account (IKZE), internet expenses up to 760 PLN a year, donations for public benefit and vocational education purposes, the heritage-property relief, the rehabilitation relief, the blood-donation relief, and thermal-modernization expenses. When several rates apply at once, deductions are made proportionally to each revenue stream's share of total revenue.
New in 2026 — mandatory electronic records and JPK_EWP
As of 1 January 2026, the rules for keeping the revenue register change. Under the regulation of the Minister of Finance and Economy of 17 September 2025 on keeping the revenue register and the register of fixed assets and intangible assets, the register must be kept exclusively in electronic form, using computer programs that generate a file in XML format. The new structure of the JPK_EWP file contains significantly more data than before, including counterparty identification and invoice numbers assigned in the National e-Invoice System (KSeF).
The obligation takes effect in stages. From 1 January 2026 it applies to active VAT payers settling monthly (those required to file JPK_V7M), who must keep the register electronically from that date and submit the JPK_EWP file for 2026 to the tax office, without being asked, by 30 April 2027. From 1 January 2027 the obligation extends to the remaining taxpayers — those settling VAT quarterly and those exempt from VAT.
Who can't choose the lump-sum tax
The lump-sum tax is not available to, among others, operators of pharmacies, currency exchange offices, or trade in motor vehicle parts and accessories, nor to producers of excise goods (except electricity from renewable sources). The exclusion also covers taxpayers paying the tax card (karta podatkowa) in the same year, and those who, under a new business, would provide their current or former employer with the same services they previously performed under an employment contract. The choice of the lump-sum tax is reported via a written declaration to the head of the tax office by the 20th day of the month following the month in which the first revenue of the year was earned (or by the end of the year, if the first revenue arose in December); once made, the choice also applies in subsequent years, with no need to file a new declaration every year.